Multilayer capacitors have traditionally been produced in various configurations including both lead type chips and leadless chips. Leadless chips may be provided with end terminations configured for direct attachment to, for example, printed wiring boards. Lead type chips may be provided with a lead or connection tabs secured to the capacitor chip to provide additional mounting options.
Traditionally lead type chips have been produced by first producing a completed capacitor chip and then securing such completed chip to a lead or tab. Such securing most commonly has been accomplished by soldering the capacitor chip to a lead or tab with relatively low melting point solder.
In some instances, a solder preform or paste may have been applied to termination points on respective ends of an otherwise completed capacitor chip and the chip with the solder in place has been placed in a lead frame configured for reception of a plurality of capacitor chips. Once all chips are placed in the lead frame, the assembly may then be subjected to a heat cycle at appropriate temperatures to re-flow the solder-and secure the chip to the lead frame. Subsequent processing separates the individual chips by severing selected portions of the lead frame to produce a final product.
Because the various solders used in such known process have relatively low melting points, problems may arise if the final product is to be used in environments involving extreme temperatures, especially with recently mandated switch to lead-free solders. In addition to the above noted concerns, production of finished products of such type requires a relatively large number of production steps resulting in significant manufacturing costs.
Various patents have related to firing of capacitor material and/or the application of terminations and/or leads to capacitor material, such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,545 B1 to Branchevsky and entitled “Method of Making an Embedded Green Multi-Layer Ceramic Chip Capacitor in a Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) Substrate”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,882 to Alexander and entitled “Method of Integrating Electronic Components into Electronic Circuit Structures Made Using LTCC Tape”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,953 to Hirama et al. and entitled “Lead Type Chip Capacitor and Process for Producing the Same”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,273 to Insetta et al. and entitled “Process for Applying Conductive Terminations to Ceramic components”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,153 to Prakash and entitled “Method of Making Capacitor with Co-Fired End Terminations.”
The disclosures of all of the foregoing citations are fully incorporated herein by reference, for all purposes.
In light of such presently recognized aspects of prior methodologies and arrangements, it would be desirable to provide a methodology to produce lead type chip capacitors that significantly reduces the production steps required while at the same time producing components that may be employed in relatively higher temperature environments.
While various implementations for the production of lead type electronic components have been developed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereafter presented in accordance with the present subject matter.